Mental Capacity Matters with Alex Ruck Keene

In light of the publication of the Westminster Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee’s (very good)  report  on assisted dying / assisted suicide on 29 February 2024 and as a modest contribution to informing debate about these issues, I have recorded an ‘informer,’ in which I give an overview of the current law in England & Wales and worldwide, set out some of the reasons why...

In this ‘in conversation with’  Professor Gavin Davidson , we discuss the new paper that he has co-authored, entitled  Comparing mental health and mental capacity law data across borders: Challenges and opportunities , think about what data is actually useful, and use the example of the island of Ireland to dig into striking differences of approach.  The original video is here . (Th...

In the last 'in conversation' of 2023, I talk to Graham Morgan about his perspective on coercion in mental healthcare, what 'lived experience' means, and what is truly important in the mental health context. For the original video, see here .

In this ‘in conversation with,’ I am joined by my colleague at 39 Essex Chambers,  Arianna Kelly , to talk about her new book,  Social Care Charging , and then to look at the issues which arise where decisions about charging and care planning are taking place in relation to those with impaired decision-making capacity. For the original video, see here . A review of Arianna’s book can be...

In this ‘in conversation’ with, I talk to the editors of the new  Routledge Handbook of Mental Health Law , Professors  Brendan Kelly  and  Mary Donnelly , about the genesis and scope of, and insights, from the book.  We discuss, amongst other matters, the concepts of mental illness, lived experience, and the scope of the idea of ‘mental health law.’ For the original...

In this ‘in conversation with’  Dr Julia Duffy , we discuss her new book, the indivisibility of rights, and how we might move beyond a focus on autonomy in the context of cognitive impairment to get a richer understanding of personhood. The original video can be found here . Julia’s book is called Mental Capacity, Dignity and the Power of International Human Rights, and is available&nbsp...

In this ‘in conversation’ with, I talk to  Isabel Astrachan  and  Dr Scott Kim  about the paper we recently published together looking at the ways in which the presumption of capacity in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (and many other equivalent legislative frameworks in other countries) can be misunderstood, and why ‘suspending’ the presumption in the face of legitimate reason to...

In this ‘in conversation’ with, I talk to  Dr Magda Furgalska  about her research into people's lived experiences of ‘insight’ in the context of (often compulsory) mental health care, and we explore also whether and how it might be possible to move away from reliance upon a concept which finds no formal place in the law. For the original video, see here .

As (for some at least) a summer break is starting to come to an end, I have recorded a version of a talk that I gave to the Essex Autonomy Project’s 2023  Summer School , taking stock of the mental capacity and mental health law and policy landscape as at August 2023. Its primary focus is on England & Wales, but it also includes developments in the UK and further afield, including th...

In this ‘in conversation with’, I talk to  Dr Matthé Scholten  about self-binding directives, coercion in mental health treatment and how to characterise treatment that is in line with a person’s will but not their current preferences. For the original video, see here . Details of the SALUS project Matthé is working on can be found  here . Three articles describing matters discussed...

In this ‘in conversation’ with, I talk to Dr Elisabeth Alton about the pilot forensic service to support safeguarding adults that she has led on, designed to provide an examination service for adults at risk of harm who may have suffered a non-accidental injury as a result of physical abuse or neglect. For the original video, see here . Details of ‘Adult A’s’ case that Elisabeth talks about at the...

In this ‘in conversation with’, I talk to  Dr Kevin Ariyo  about the research that he led (as part of the as part of the Mental Health & Justice Project) into interpersonal influence and decision-making capacity, focusing on the way in which this issue has played out in the courts, and asking what the research might tell us about how we can think better about this area. For the origi...

In this – the 50th! – ‘in conversation’ with, I talk to Abiy Babatunde, research assistant on the Advance Statements for Black African and Caribbean (AdStaC project), which seeks to improve Black service users’ [1]  experiences in mental health services in South London by co-producing and testing an advance choice implementation resource with Black service users, mental health professionals a...

In this 'in conversation with', I talk to Donna Phillips, Head of Safeguarding at Spectrum Community Health CIC, about the challenges that arise where prisoners refuse food, and about her research leading to a new toolkit to help work through the dilemmas that arise. For the original video, see here .

In this 'in conversation with,' I talk to Siddiq Diwan, Imam and Lead Muslim Chaplain at the Manchester University Hospital Foundation Trust  (and Vice Director of the Ethics Council at The British Islamic Medical Association).  I learn something of the Islamic perspective on the concepts of capacity and best interests, and think with him about navigating some of the complexities of thes...

In this ‘in conversation with,’ I talk to  Professor Shih-Ning Then  about supported decision-making, exploring the meaning of the term, how it is understood and what it might mean in different contexts, in the context of a hugely important  report  on the subject she has contributed to for the Living Disability Research Centre at La Trobe University, commissioned by the Austra...

In this ‘in conversation with,’ I talk to  Bonnie Venter  about her work investigating the complexities of living organ donation in England & Wales, and think about the issues caused where either the proposed donor or the potential recipient has impaired decision-making capacity. The paper Bonnie and I discuss, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, and prompted by the case of&n...

In this ‘in conversation with’ across time zones, I talk to Dr Piers Gooding about his work in relation to supported decision-making and the work that he has been involved in drawing together concrete evidence of steps that can be take to reduce (or prevent) coercion in mental health care. Drawing on his experiences, we think about incremental vs ‘big bang’ approaches to reform. For the origi...

In this ‘in conversation’ with, I learn from (retired)  Professor Ken Wilson  and  Dr Julia Lewis  about Alcohol Related Brain Damage and its often subtle impacts upon mental capacity.  We also discuss when and why thinking about capacity to manage alcohol is actually useful in the abstract. For the original video, see here .

In this 'in conversation' with, I learn about the background to the new book co-edited by Daisy Cheung and Michael Dunn,  Advance Directives Across Asia: A Comparative Socio-legal Analysis  (available as a free ebook here ).   We discuss the challenges of undertaking comparative research in relation to such a diverse group of jurisdictions (see here for a slide setting out...

In the most recent (slightly snuffly) in conversation, I talk to Dr Janet Weston about her fascinating book  Looking after Miss Alexander: Care, Mental Capacity, and the Court of Protection in Mid-Twentieth-Century England  (available for free here ).   I learn what led her to tell Miss Alexander's story, what that story tells us about approaches to capacity in the middle of th...

In May 2022, the Ministry of Justice indicated in its response to the  Modernising Lasting Powers of Attorney consultation  that it intended to bring forward primary legislation to amend the MCA 2005 to reform a number of key provisions relating to LPAs. Stephen Metcalfe MP introduced in December a Private Members’ Bill, the  Powers of Attorney Bill 2022 , which has government...

The Joint Committee on the  Draft Mental Health Bill  has today (19 January 2023) published its  pre-legislative scrutiny report  on the draft Bill.  This podcast is a walkthrough of its conclusions and recommendations. For the original video, see here .

In a slightly different ‘in conversation with,’ in that the tables are turned half-way though and I’m on the spot, Dr Gareth Owen and I reflect on our work on the Mental Health and Justice Project , and discuss the need for (and complexities of) interdisciplinarity in mental health research, drawing on a chapter in a forthcoming book.  We then turn to a paper  I led on - j...

In a slightly different ‘in conversation with,’ in that the tables are turned half-way though and I’m on the spot, Dr Gareth Owen and I reflect on our work on the Mental Health and Justice Project , and discuss the need for (and complexities of) interdisciplinarity in mental health research, drawing on a chapter in a forthcoming book.  We then turn to a paper  I led on - j...